ON THE WATCH TOWER.

Evening Star, Issue 14688, 4 October 1911, Page 8

ON THE WATCH TOWER.

[By Ariel.] No boo aer had the Franoo-GermaH war elood hocpn to disperse than a TutroJtalian cloud, even more black and thunderous, spread, as by magic, over tlio sky. Italian steamers in Turkish ports hurry ' their passengers ashore and put to sea •without landing mails or cargo. Italy trams all her shipping to keep out of Turkish clutches. Christian? clamor for their home Governments to-take them cut of Turkish territory, and bondholders offer 45sr premium to insure against war during the next three months, and within two or three days war is declared and a province seized. These things show how the peace of the world hangs cm a hair trigger, and that, where there is every appearance of profound j«ace, there are questions an tender hs a. boil or volc.-vnow 1 reedy to explode. Our non-resistere and our anti-militarists ought to be instnw tod by these tilings. It is impossible to say what an hour may bring forth, atwl it. is too late to get. ready when the lightning begins to play. *♦****♦' The <-ase of Tripoli is especially instructive. It is loosely attached to the Turkish Empire, and the‘Turks arc in an unstable condition at home, ami. at hesi, are waok at sea. Italy is conscious of being a much stronger Power, and has her colonial ambitions and needs. Her neighbors have ■been making acquisitions, and she must have “ compensation. ” She there lore claims this loose province of the Turkish Empire, which she knows she is able to

take and subdue, lu fad. she had already consulted her allies. Germany tml Austria', and they had agreed. She had .net consulted the owner? of the i-rcttcd proviuoe. however. Ther counted for nothing. This is the old Napoleonic method over again. The oulv Power likely 10 object is France, and Frame has her hands full. The moment- was well chosen. Now, suppose the British Empire, to bo with domestic strife, or with » little-ravy-i'-cace-at-any-priie party in power, and suppose her relations to be tender and strained with some great rival, hi hat- is to prevent some oilier Power, ■wanting “ compensation." front siring -. ■' There i? North Australia, empty and loosely held: it. will suit us. We take if. What have our anti-militarists to siv to ?').h contingencies '! Is my supposition fa'- fell bed? If so, it is only because wc

re jis?d now in a position In resist. ******* Already the Turkish. Cabinet has rev,m d. The Austrian annexations a year ■ ,-o hank well-nigh caused a revolution. Fin- lass of Tripoli will (onvitme the Turk.- '.hat Liberalism and Tie form mean non. Granted that the Younc Turks, under the caucus, have disanpoinfccd Europe. yet they rcpre.sent a small step in ndvm.e by the very fact that they displac'd Autocracy. The work! would he «■ rry to see a reversion to “ Abdul the Damned.” How Italy's bullying action will ;;ffe + Germany it is hard to say. The Ka ; .:e r visited Abdul and hobnobbed with nlm.io ihe disciist of Europe. In his later visit to Morocco be spoke as tlm chamr■ ion of Islam. Since the revolution he ha- rourted the Young Turks. The great i.hie." was to secure the Euphrates Hallway. which would practically give .1 diiect ii 'ra Berlin to the Persian Gulf. tu • foreign trade of that region is mostly i'-itish : but this railway, with its special om"'.whirls, was to rapture that trade for •ho Fatherland and make Mesopotamia a de-men col ony. Germany supported the Au-iriau annexations. but she did it bv ouilyiii:; Russia, the groat enemy of Turin'. Tins and many sweet words made •hat episode pass without any loss of ir’uiy to the Kaiser. Hnt what will rappen now? »«*»*»* Th German Pre.-m usu.d. are blaming angUrd. This shows that it te felt that lienuary has lost, something. A little while acethe same Press wet,- mad because Ivijrland bad acquired a port oj : the Persian Gulf, which spoiled the term in us of the Tnphrjtes- Railway. Have flic Kaiser's .’t.',v<'Tment "iv p n up hoping for much from ;lm railway? They have cejtoiuly agteed V> li ily’s undertaking, and that, amounts »•. throwing over the- Turk-. both Old and V.ejeg. It it. probable that she had 10 : !:■■■:•< the lesser of two evils. The Triple A!■ ia(van is to her what the Monro,' TToc,ri im •« to A meric,'. Austria and Italy are 1 mbahlT very sick of it. and the burden v involves. Last, year Austria, was tip-H'.-asvJ with the sop of Hensecovi na. 1 Ids would make Italy ail the more redive. s- must have a province too. or the Adinc-e would break up. 'lTins, (lenmuy has been cbligf-d to abandon Turkey, and a. •ir'ef her allies in plundering the "Sick M in.” Germany has really icteiv'-d a etnI a.-!, in her Eastern policy at the hands ■•f hrr allies. She lets popular feeding I'h’iii." England, and hones that- the Tripoli e‘Tiir will exasperate Mohammedan sentiment against her in India and Egypt. ******* Mr Bickenlike, the well-known Liberal number for Montreal, when asked " Who d'.mated the Liberate?” replied: "1 ,h.n't remember his name —he is dca-.l long ago—but he is the man who wrote •Rule, Britannia."’ T'ds reply is as true as ii i< w:ity. Sorno clear-sighted Fren.-liman, wiem h>>

fch© ‘ .Marseillaise.’ th-n newly written by ITolone] Roueet Du IJsle exclaimed : “ Me lint, given 1{X),000 men to the ftepubli Yes, a. hundred thousand, and more, in •v*. i y generation, and makes them doubly efficient at that. There i» an old. old •! t et»k story of how the Spartana. bring withont a general, sent to Athene for one. The Athenians seized the op pottuniiy to do Sparta a bad turn, and sent tlwiu a. s-itolar and a poet «no knew nothing of w:i". The new leader inr.de songs tor his men, under the inspiration of which they otirried all before them. • Rule. Britannia ‘ is attributed to Jemmy Thomson, of • 'The Season?,’ though some ascribe it ta D-ivid Mallet., a poet, of the name era. but. of inferior fame. David and Jemmy eon-j-.iatiy produced the mask ‘Alfred - in 1740. Mallet afterwards alien'd this piece, and it was reproduced at Dnny I.ane ir: 1751, and ‘Rule, Britannia’ then hist ap insured in it. Mallet claimed it as his if.vu, but some critics have thought he was scarcely equal to it. Anyway, them i; is, and, as Southey says: “It will be the political hymn of this country as long us the maintains her political power. ‘‘ It. seems to count in other countries too. An apt commentary on Mr BlckerdikeV witticism is that, when Mr Borden came in triumph to Ottawa the chief decorations were Union Jacks, 'liter would bo in good -repair, too, for they have not. been used much for a long time in Canada. On a great Imperial occasion, some yerus ago. the Minister in charge of Public Buildings ref used to have the Union Jack hoisted on them. It was ho. perhaps, and not David ot Jemmy, who was lef-eat ing the Lamer Government. »***«•»* A retired salt at the Bluff has irreverently trifled with the dignity of free citiz.nehip. In filling in his claim he- sused that his last electorate was “ Heaven.’’ The p«or man probably meant his quarterdeck, t he Registrar, however, searched his rod;, and electoral maps, and then the directories and the gazetteers of the world; bn*. it was all in vain- He found Paradise above I*ake Wakatipu, and New Jerusalem up cue Wanganui River, bat Heaven beat him. He interviewed the lawyers, the auetkmeers, the suck dealers, and the police, but none of them knew; where the place was. The man. claimed to bo living now »t> the “Six-fathom Mark,” which was supposed to be low down, and therefore a reflection on t-h© town. I: was consequently resolved to call upon the would - be elector to explain hie geography in court. He admitted that Ive did not come from the place mentioned, and was sony for it. The Magistrate said he would get off with paying expenses, but if any more cJaimcd U come from there he would make it hot for them. ******* Ti» French Navy suffers from some malign influence. There have been repeated expkaekme, getting worse and worse- each time. Not long since there was a shocking ■tbmarine accident, in which the whole crew were imprisoned at the tea bottom «*d perished miserably We Ikm r of no

| such accidents in the German Navy. In ' J the British Navy there are accidents from j time to time. The Victoria and the Vanguard were rammed and sunk; the Vi pur. jaa early destroyer, broke her back. The , j other day a warship was iu collision' with a j great liner. There have also been come I gun explosions, but these wore cornpani- , five trifles. All our disasters, oreept that ’.'or the Victoria, in which Admiral Tryon k teemed momentarily to have lest his head, . vreie pure and obvious accidents. But the • j French accident s sooni to mo to suggest . i some want of thoroughness and patient , I c::».ro, or even soaxdlvijig worse. The only ■ ! modern parallel to the late French calamity • j is tlie. blowing iqruf tho Maine at Havana, i! in Chiba, That also appears to have boon a i, j case of the explosion'of h.-r own mog.iz.iavs. ’ i •*•«->«« | For parallel in Britrih naval history wv , j have to go hack to the year 1800, when , j the Qaecn Charlotte, T.ord Keiths flagship, j nos burnt on the, Italian (.cast. film ». i sister Hup to the famous Koval George, ; in which "brave Kemponfeklt wont down , j with I wive lour h-.c id red rn«n.” The Queen . i Charlotte was one of the largest British 1 vess-ds c.tio.u. She had a bad liutiny, ! however, having been .1. lender hi the great | mutiny in 1797. At tho time of tbs fire | she appeals i<> have been still in a very l.ni 1 i-.iat,' of discipline. However, on March 1 ! 17, IST), at 6 a.m.. she "-as discovered to jhe on tiro a few miles off shore. Boats pet ! off to help, but. the- guns were shotted, and j kept going o!f as they got hot. so the ; helpers weio afraid to come near. The | , bikers and a part of lbs crew tought the j tl.nnce. for hours. till the guns began to ! fa’! through the clocks. Part of the trow, I 1 ‘oelievc. we;c out of hand, and woi-so than 1 U'.eh wv. A: hi.M Captain Todd gave orders j for saving ;i- many as josaihle.. but !>c i and iiis lieuicnants stuck to their 'posts ..ml j ]»■; :s.h.-<J. 'Hie Admiral and 10 others j were asho’.v, rind 156 worn saved. Hat 636 : .--“■iincn, Iwys and marines, together with j the captain, three lieutenants. the eapt.'.ui I of marines, 7 no master and his four nrites, | the purser, the suigeon and his three mate:-. ; the boatswain. 18 midshipmen, the stvvc- ■ t.'iry, the clerk, and the schoolmaster all ; pmiiduid. making 673 in all. At the Battle ! of the Nile the Kritish lens in killed ami 1 wounded together was 895. the slain were I probably no: lucre than half ins many a.? : jerished in tlie Queen Gharh'tte.